Today's Pick-Me-Up

I admit, I was succumbing to a bit of self-pity and restlessness the last day or two. But after 8am Mass this morning, that all changed.

I watched a sweet elderly lady balance herself and her cane against a pew to put on her scarf, and realized she must have come to church alone. I know her from seeing her regularly at daily Mass, but couldn't remember her name.

"Did you drive here all by yourself?" I approached, thinking to help her get to her car.

"Oh, no -- I walked," came the sweet reply, to my incredulous expression. (Mind you, it was all of 25 degrees F here this morning!)

"I've been told it's 18 blocks round-trip," she continued rosily while zipping her coat, "but I always tell people 14 because I don't like to sound like a show-off."

"And how old are you, again?" I queried.

"I'm 92 and —what's today?— 32 days."

She proceeded to kiss me goodbye on the cheek. "Love ya. And you have such a sweet dimple!"

That was just the inspirational kick I needed. Here is a precious lady who doesn't drive and who can barely walk steadily, yet who rises early on icy mornings to walk 8+ blocks one way to Church and who is always there on time... and here is 22-year-old me, who too many mornings (especially lately) weakly allows myself "just a few more minutes" under the warm covers and then arrives late to Mass.

The joyful witness of such fidelity moves me to strive for greater discipline this Advent, and reminds much I still need to learn about denying myself...

Thank you, Mary Ann! May your reward be great.

What I'd Like to Say

...my goddaughter, Miss Rose, very articulately expressed a lot of what I'd like to say on the whole "Happy-Holidays-versus-Merry-Christmas" thing, as well as the "get-it-over-with-Christmas-starting-in-October-and-ending-Dec-26-rush". How's that for a lot of hyphens? :)

Anyway, take a trip over for some good thoughts.

Blessed Advent Week of Peace!

Advent Message from Papa Benedict

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).- As the Church begins Advent, Benedict XVI is recalling that it is a season to recall how God comes to visit us.

The Pope said this during a homily at First Vespers on Saturday, with which the Church began Advent and the new liturgical year.

The Holy Father reflected on the etymology of the word "advent" from the Latin adventus. "With the word adventus an attempt was made essentially to say: God is here, he has not withdrawn from the world, he has not left us alone," he explained. "Although we cannot see or touch him, as is the case with tangible realities, he is here and comes to visit us in multiple ways."

The Pontiff added that the expression advent also includes "visitatio, which means simply and properly 'visit."

"In this case," he said, "it is a visit of God: He enters my life and wants to address me."

Taking time
Benedict XVI acknowledged that we all experience "having little time for the Lord and little time for ourselves."

"We end up by being absorbed in 'doing,'" he said. "Is it not true that often activity possesses us, that society with its many interests monopolizes our attention? Is it not true that we dedicate much time to amusements and leisure of different kinds? Sometimes things 'trap' us."

In this scenario, the Holy Father said, Advent "invites us to pause in silence to grasp a presence." He continued: "It is an invitation to understand that every event of the day is a gesture that God directs to us, sign of the care he has for each one of us. How many times God makes us perceive something of his love! To have, so to speak, an 'interior diary' of this love would be a beautiful and salutary task for our life! Advent invites and stimulates us to contemplate the Lord who is present. Should not the certainty of his presence help us to see the world with different eyes? Should it not help us to see our whole existence as a 'visit,' as a way in which he can come to us and be close to us, in each situation?"

Advent is furthermore a time of joy, the Pontiff said. It is "the time of the presence and the expectation of the eternal. Precisely for this reason it is, in a particular way, the time of joy, of an internalized joy, that no suffering can erase. Joy because of the fact that God became a child. This joy, invisibly present in us, encourages us to walk with confidence."

And this joy, he concluded, finds a model and support in the Virgin Mary, "through whom the Child Jesus has been given to us." He prayed: "May she, faithful disciple of her Son, obtain for us the grace to live this liturgical time vigilant and diligent in waiting."

~from zenit.org

Advent Day 14: Saint Lucy

Hear us, O God, our salvation, as we rejoice on the feast of Saint Lucy, Thy virgin and Martyr, and grant us to learn the spirit of pious devotion.

~from CatholicCulture.org

Fr. Kubicki on St. Lucy's memorial:

Swedish girls in a "St. Lucia" tradition...I'm not sure what the song is, but it's lovely!

Advent Day 13: Our Lady of Guadalupe

“Am I not here, I who am your Mother?

Are you not under my shadow and protection?

Am I not the source of your joy?

Are you not in the hollow of my mantle,

in the crossing of my arms?

Do you need anything more?
Let nothing else worry or disturb you.”

~Our Lady of Guadalupe

(celebrated today)

Our Lady of Guadalupe explained by Fr. James Kubicki, SJ

(National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer):

Advent Day 12

“The arrangement of the names of Christ, however, is manifold…
Sun, because He is the illuminator…
Vine, because we are redeemed by His blood…
Lion, because he is king…

Rock, because He is firm…
Prophet, because He has revealed what is to come.”

~Pope St. Damasus I (celebrated today)

Advent Day 11

“Peace begins with a smile.”

~Mother Teresa

We are in the Advent week of Peace...have you smiled today?

Second Sunday of Advent

“A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!”

~from Today’s Gospel

Advent Day 7

God of joy and cheer,
we thank you for your servant,
the good bishop Nicholas.
In loving the poor,
he showed us your kindness;
in caring for your children,
he revealed your love.
Make us thoughtful
without need of reward
so that we, too, may be
good followers of Jesus.

Happy St. Nicholas Day! If you haven't been to StNicholasCenter.org yet, there's no better time! Both the beautiful picture and prayer are from there.

May the generous spirit of this saint inspire us today and the whole year through.

God bless!

Advent Day 6

Lord, we believe that You can make us see.

~See today’s gospel

Advent Day 5

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’

will enter the Kingdom of heaven,

but only the one who does the will of my Father...”

~Matthew 7 (today’s gospel)

Advent Day 4

"It is not the actual pysical exertion

that counts towards a man's progress,

nor the nature of the task,

but by the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken."

~St. Francis Xavier, celebrated today

Advent Day 3

(See today's first reading)

Advent Day 2

“Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”

~Psalm 122 (Today's Responsorial Psalm)

First Sunday of Advent

“Advent is, par excellence, the season of hope.”

~Celebration of Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St Peter's Basilica, 1st December 2007

Powerful

From AdventConspiracy.org:

The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love.

So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists.

And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?

Today begins Advent. Enter the conspiracy!

HT: Homeschooling with Joy

Gaude!

"These things I have spoken to you, in order that My joy may dwell in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:11)

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love." (Mother Teresa)

"...your heart shall rejoice, and no one shall take your joy from you." (John 16:22)

A blessed Gaudete Sunday to you!

So True...

How many observe Christ's birthday!
How few, His precepts!

(Benjamin Franklin)

HT: Bethany

Reflections on Hope

As we are in the Advent week of hope, I thought now would be a good time to share some recent reflections I gave at Little Flowers Club. We used to always do acronyms of the virtues in our "younger years" in the Club, so I decided to revisit the approach in my reflections...

Honesty and Humility – with ourselves and God. We must always be honest about our own sinfulness and need of Christ’s mercy, but at the same time must hope in His ongoing work within us – even on days when we can’t see or feel it happening.

“Two criminals were crucified with Christ. One was saved; do not despair. One
was not; do not presume.” ( St. Augustine)

And the same with our world: it is easy for us, I think, to become so focused on and concerned about the great evil and darkness all around us that we forget to remain hopeful about humanity. "It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness..." In the midst of all this confusion, there is evidence of a Springtime of Faith, a "New Pentecost".

“The last word of God on the human condition is not death, but life; not despair, but hope. To this hope the Church invites the men and women of today as well. She repeats to them the incredible but true proclamation: Christ is risen! Let the whole world rise with Him. Alleluia!” (Pope John Paul II)

Optimism is another word that reminds us how to practically apply this virtue. Can we recognize, or at least look for, the hand of God in every situation? Do we believe He can bring greater good from evil? Our God is One Who can bring beauty from brokenness, life from ashes, healing from frailty, strength from weakness. What a consolation. (I've reflected on this often: here, and here, and here.)

"It is our part to seek, His to grant what we ask; ours to make a beginning, His to bring it to completion; ours to offer what we can, His to finish what we cannot." (St. Jerome)

Promise. We are the children of a Father Who keeps his promises. Always. The movie Love’s Enduring Promise comes to mind… I love that title, and how Missy’s father reminds his daughter: “Remember love’s enduring promise! He is faithful”.

“…those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” (Isaiah 49:23)

“For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.” (Psalm 71:5)

Our youth is a unique time of learning to hope, to trust. Especially as many of us near adulthood, the paths of discernment can be at times frightening, or at least confusing. The human desire to “have it all planned out” is constantly there. Yet most of us will probably don’t know our life’s vocation yet. Some of us many not know what it is for some time… each day we must renew our desire to simply hope, and trust, and be a handmaiden of the Lord, ready to say “Fiat”.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'Plans
to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"
(Jeremiah 29:11)

Eternity is why we are here. Hope is what keeps this foremost in our minds and hearts. How bleak, how empty life would be if we had only 70 or 80 or 90 years here, and nothing more. But we know that this time is but the blink of an eye in light of eternity.

Bl. Juliana of Norwich (14th-15th Century English Mystic, Visionary,
Writer):

“He did not say: You will not be assailed, you will not be belabored, you will not be disquieted, but he did say: You will not be overcome.”

“All shall be well
and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.”

(I had always loved that last quote, which Bear uses in Regina Doman's first book, but it was not until I prepared the above reflection that I learned who first said it! I thought that was pretty neat!)

~ ~ ~

More on Hope...

- Words for hope, from the online Thesaurus:

Anticipation – Expectancy – Longing – Security – Trust

- Think about it: To hope in vs. hope for something is different: the first ("hope in") means we know with certainty that what we hope is in true, but the second ("hope for") means we only long for it.

- From the Holy Mass: “In your mercy keep us free from sin, and protect us in all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Other quotes:
“Love means to love that which is unlovable, or it is no virtue at all; forgiving means to pardon the unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all; faith means believing the unbelievable, or it is no virtue at all; and to hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all.” (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy)

“Love is faith’s flower, hope is its stem. Grace comes into us by faith, like water through the roots of a tree. It rises in us by hope, like sap rising through the trunk of a tree. And it matures in us by [love] as fruit matures on a tree’s branches, fruit for the neighbor’s eating.” (Peter Kreeft, The God Who Loves You)

“Faith is the root, the necessary beginning. Hope is the stem, the energy that makes the plant grow. Love is the fruit, the flower, the visible product, the bottom line. The plant of our new life in Christ is one; the life of God comes into us by faith, through us by hope, and out of us by the works of love.” (Peter Kreeft, Fundamentals of the Faith)

“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

“But we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:23-25)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

“Since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8-9)

“But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy everyone that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15)